


Gods’ Amusements

by LaurenCrabtree



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Dream Cycle - H. P. Lovecraft
Genre: (Of a Human Being), Claustrophobia, Darkness, Frostbite, I Might Write a Part Two to This, Mentions/Undertones of Kidnapping, Multi, Shantaks, Undertones of Sexual Slavery, Water Bondage, Water Torture, storage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-18 00:57:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16107416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurenCrabtree/pseuds/LaurenCrabtree
Summary: Nyarlathotep brings his pet, Randolph Carter, with him to a meeting of the Outer Gods and has quite an ingenious way of storing him during their journey.





	Gods’ Amusements

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Flazéda (peternurphy)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peternurphy/gifts).



> Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo; @Flazéda requested Rantep + Water Torture. If you want to request a fic or just chat, you can find me on Tumblr at @laurencrabtree.

The walls of the box were closing in on him. Or at least, they seemed to be; Carter had been inside of it since he woke up, and Nyarlathotep was nowhere in sight. With no one around to help him, he was growing more and more scared by the minute. _How did he get in here? How long would he be left in here? Where was Nyarlathotep?_ Logically, he knew the Outer God was probably behind all of this and would likely be back soon, but a small, irrational part of him feared being left there forever despite all the affection Nyarlathotep had shown him.

 

“Good morning, Randolph Carter.” His captor’s voice was barely audible through the glass box, but it startled Carter nonetheless. He looked up with a jolt, quite painfully hitting his head on the glass, and saw Nyarlathotep standing in the doorway. Carter said nothing; he knew Nyarlathotep had forbidden him from speaking today and would likely deliver a swift punishment if he did. So he just glared.

 

“I know, I’m sure it was quite a shock waking up like this, but I have to store my toy _somewhere_ on the way to Sarkomand, and you surely would have made a fuss if I tried to put you in there awake. Now, there’s just one more thing I need to do before we go…”

 

A stream of warm water hit Carter seemingly from out of nowhere. He gasped, pressing himself up against the edge of the box so he wouldn’t get water in his eyes, and immediately began scrabbling against its corners trying to find where it opened. He found nothing.

 

Nyarlathotep smirked down at him, and Carter could hear him laughing to himself.

 

“Don’t worry, Randolph Carter, I won’t let you drown. That’s why this is here.” He ran his hand over the glass, pausing to tap a long fingernail next to the air hole.

 

Carter wasn’t relieved in the least. Nyarlathotep had lied to him before; he certainly could be now. As the water rose up to his waist, he made a last-ditch effort to punch through the glass and got nothing but a throbbing pain in his knuckles. He readied another punch; the water was up to his shoulders before he could make it. Resignedly, Carter took a deep breath, sat up as tall as he could, and pressed his mouth to the air hole. He could feel tears beginning to sting at his eyes as the water reached his neck.

 

“Oh, relax, pet; you won’t be in there for more than an hour. Now, it’s high time we got going. Be good in there!” Nyarlathotep’s voice took on a singsong tone with the last sentence. As the water rose up to Carter’s ears, he tapped the box one final time and the glass turned to onyx, effectively shutting out his view of everything except through the air hole. The water finally stopped flowing when it was a good inch past Carter’s ears, leaving barely any space for him to breathe through. He could feel the box being lifted up now, but somehow the water hardly splashed at all. Perhaps Nyarlathotep _was_ going easy on him.

 

Soon enough, though, he discovered that it wasn’t so easy after all. Breathing required him to sit in the same position the entire time, and he could feel his muscles beginning to cramp up from the lack of movement. It was getting cold inside, too; they were undoubtedly on a Shantak and on their way to Sarkomand by now. Carter wondered if Nyarlathotep had also lied about the length of the journey—he had said an hour, but what if it was really two, or three, or more? He shuddered at the thought.

 

Carter could feel a painful tingle in his limbs now, and he suspected they would go numb soon either from the position he was in or from the cold. Wanting to at least allow himself a little movement, he experimentally sat back and stretched his legs out as far as the box would allow.

 

At first, the relief from the kneeling position was comforting, even with the water over his now-closed eyes. But as soon as Carter tried to surface, he found himself struggling to both breathe and see as water got in his eyes and nose. He gasped and sputtered and blindly pressed his face to the lid, trying to feel around for the air hole. By the time he managed to find it, breathing felt like even more of a luxury than it had before. He wanted to rub the water from his eyes, but he couldn’t, so he resigned himself to simply keeping them closed. They still itched.

 

Carter wondered if Nyarlathotep could hear him in there. He hoped not; it would only give the Outer God one more thing to belittle him about. His fingers and toes were indeed going numb now, and he prayed that his captor wouldn’t allow him to lose one to the cold. He swore he could hear his heart pounding in fear. It had likely been an hour by now—or maybe it hadn’t; time did go by slowly when Carter was afraid.

 

As if on cue, Carter felt a soft thud as the box was lowered down to the ground, followed by the click of Nyarlathotep’s nails on the hard onyx. The box turned to glass once more, and Carter winced as the light suddenly flooded his eyes. Once he opened them again, he could vaguely make out three other figures standing over him in addition to Nyarlathotep. They were all talking excitedly amongst themselves, and although Carter couldn’t tell exactly what they were saying, he had a feeling it was about him. Before he could ponder it any further, though, the lid was opened and Nyarlathotep lifted him out. He took in a deep, gasping breath and prayed that he would make it back to Kadath in one piece.


End file.
